It has been a hectic couple of weeks.

And continuous days of beautiful sunshine means the builders are on a roll – powering ahead with construction of the roof over a new bedroom, living and dining areas.

By 6.30am each morning, the builders are having their coffee at the front of my house. Being an early riser, I am usually up and about by 6am.

By 7am, the beautiful sound of tablesaws, nailguns and hammering is the natural alarm clock for Mysaucepan to get out of bed.

Ant caps made from galvanized sheet metal are placed on top of the brick piers that support each wooden joist.

As termites dislike natural light, these ant caps form a physical barrier designed to force foraging termites out into the open for detection during a building inspection. They do not prevent termites entering the house but any sign of termite activity in the future is easily visible by mud tunnels that form over these shields.

These shields can also act as a barrier against rising damp from the ground.

The total area of the new deck is approximately 85 sqm that include two walkways from a new, forth bedroom and the existing third bedroom.

The appeal of this outdoor floorplan is in its square and rectangular shapes. It is easy and cost effective to work with a floorplan that does not have irregular shapes, angles and different levels. Out of the total area of 85 sqm, 40 sqm is for outdoor entertaining, 22 sqm for an in-ground jet spa pool that seats 5 people. Walkways and viewing balconies onto the backyard is 23 sqm.

In addition to this 85sqm, there is a 15 sqm area for outdoor BBQ / roasting spit and pizza oven with integrated handwash basin, hotwater and gas utilities.

My building designer advised against constructing these two walkways from the bedrooms citing costs and privacy reasons.

I disagreed with him for the following reasons:

1. Privacy to the bedrooms can be easily maintained (with low gates) and is only an issue during outdoor entertaining and that’s even if guests decide to venture to the bedrooms;

2. The new bedroom 4 (with its own ensuite) has views of the bushland and reserve. By allowing access onto the rear deck, this new bedroom can be a very elegant alternative for a master bedroom / parents or teenage retreat. For our purpose, this will be the guest room for visitors;

3. The third bedroom is currently the smallest room in the house and this room will become my home office cum study cum reading room. Because it is next to the existing master bedroom (as any good study should be), allowing access to the rear deck will invariably increase its perceived size and attractiveness. This bedroom can also be used as a nursery for families with young children. I can imagine a mother’s joy of being able to walk directly into a private deck overlooking bushland with her baby;

4. I do not see these walkways as “wasted space” because I see them as viewing balconies since they both front the reserve and eventual spa pool. With a width of 1.5m and privacy screens to shield adjoining neighbours, these viewing balconies can be further enhanced with coffee tables for two people.

Cement pavers from the previous outdoor area have been stacked up on one corner of the backyard and our BBQ has been sitting on the lawn for the last 8 weeks.

Metal railings from an old staircase has been dismantled and are lying on the lawn waiting to be disposed. The two large rainwater tanks will be installed under the rear deck.

Two 3.9-kilolitre rainwater tanks are delivered to the property on Wednesday, 31 August 2016.

New dwellings in New South Wales are required to comply with the sustainability provisions of BASIX {Building Sustainability Index).

This index aims to deliver equitable, effective water and greenhouse gas reductions across the state. BASIX is one of the strongest sustainable planning measures to be undertaken in Australia.

Accordingly, materials used to build new dwellings are required to take into consideration environmental and sustainability issues. For example, glass windows need to comply with heat retention indices to ensure efficiency in usage of heating and cooling resources.

Water sustainability calculation

Water catchment in litres is calculated by multiplying roof area in square metres with annual rainfall in millimetres.

Our new roof in the rear has an area of 88 square metres and the suburb we live in receives an annual average of 1,135mm of precipitation or 94mm per month.

Therefore, our average water catchment = 88 sqm x 94 mm = 8,272 litres of rainwater per month. This amount of rainfall should enable our rainwater tanks (total capacity 3,900 litres x 2 = 7,800 litres) to be filled to capacity on average each month. Although this is not potable water, this source is sufficient to be used for toilet flushing, gardening and car washing.

In Australia, the average person consumes approximately 200 litres of water per day or 6,000 litres per month.

The builders construct wooden joists over the brick piers once the rainwater tanks have been installed underneath.

Fibre cement sheets are laid over the deck area.

Check out our builder slicing off fibre cement sheet in the above video.

Due to ‘flame zone’ restrictions, exposed timber of any kind are not permitted. As we intially planned to have an elevated wooden deck, this idea has since been abandoned.

The choice of modern floor coverings these days has enabled me to decide on a porcelain tile with wood grain look and texture that is maintenance-free compared to the need to resurface and stain a wooden deck every few years.

We have come to the stage where the old extention roof at the rear of the house can be demolished.

Check out the demolition of this old roof in the video above.

The northwest corner of house was previously a garden bed that was a “dead corner” as it was at the side of the house and not usable at all. This area has been “squared off” to form part of the new fourth bedroom.

By far the biggest gain floor space is to turn unusable space into highly usable areas.

As mentioned above, the new fourth bedroom with its own ensuite will have sliding doors opening into the elevated deck. I foresee this to be a highly desirable alternative master bedroom, parents or teenage retreat.

We will be using this as a guest bedroom.

The ceiling in the old living areas were only 2.45m high. As the old roof is demolished, this area will have 2.7m ceilings to be flushed with the other areas of the house.

There will be a seamless transition between the existing area of the house with the new extension without visible ceiling beams. This is achieved by installing a 7.4 metre beam that sits on load bearing walls between our new kitchen area.

Check out the crane used to lift and install the heavy 7.4 metre beam over the roof of the house.

Old roof tiles and all other building and demolition rubble are placed in skip bins for disposal. These bins are not cheap and my builder is conscious to ensure maximum usage by managing the timing and quantity of demolition and rubble disposal. This practice minimizes the cost of rubbish disposal.

Check out how a fully loaded skip bin is lifted and taken off site for disposal of its building rubble.

A new roof with 2.7 metre ceilings is being constructed in replacement of the old roof.

2.4 metre high sliding doors will be installed for the areas opening onto the elevated deck to create a seamless transition between the indoor and outdoor areas.

Wall frames

New walls will be sarked to improve heat retention in winter and minimize heat gain in summer. It will also minimize noise penetration between the living areas and the bedroom.

There is approximately 12 metres of space opening into the outdoor deck. This is to create the feel of open spaces when these 2.4 metre high sliding doors are opened.

Due to bushfire ratings, outdoor eaves and ceilings will be cladded with plywood, gyprock and fibre cement sheets.

We have been having some glorious weather and it is a beautiful spring day when these plywood sheets are being nailed onto the roof rafters.

Our builder is directing proceedings on the roof.

Glorious sunshine is beaming from the eastern side of the house this spring morning.

The front of the house has a north eastern aspect that enjoys all day sun.

Our neighbours have a neatly maintained bush that borders the rear of their backyard with the bushland reserve.

I take a photo of the backyard from the new roof.

The newly replanted palm on the top of the image above has some dead branches. I hope this palm will survive in its new location.

I fell in love with this gum tree when I first sat foot in our backyard more than a year ago.

I plan to illuminate this beautiful tree with spot lights from the ground to provide a serene backdrop for the elevated deck.

Builders Scott and Adam sharing a light moment on the new roof.

The construction of the new state-of-the-art Northern Beaches Hospital can be seen in the distant horizon.

Apprentice tradie Tom is passing up sheets of plywood to Scott and Adam.

The area of this new roof is approximately 88 square metres.

I hope this good weather continues as we head towards certification for framing and lock-up stage of construction.

Stay tuned for more updates in due course.